Barbarian (1–100 CE): Art, History and Details

Barbarian (1–100 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This bearded figure wears a tunic, trousers, and a soft conical hat with the apex bent over, called a Phrygian cap. He stands with his right hand raised (missing the index and little finger) and his left leg slightly bent. The figure originally held an implement in his lowered left hand, whose fingers curve around a shaft. The garments and cap identify him as a foreigner, likely a Dacian. Emperor Trajan (reigned AD 98–117) fought two military campaigns against Dacia (modern-day Romania), where he conquered and annexed the southern half of the region.

Object facts

• Title: Barbarian
• Date: 1–100 CE
• Culture: Italy, Rome
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 8.5 x 3.3 x 1.8 cm (3 3/8 x 1 5/16 x 11/16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Roman
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1987.64

A detail from the museum

This figure may have decorated an ornate parade breastplate on a horse.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kozloff, Arielle P., David Gordon Mitten, and Suzannah Fabing. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, Ohio: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988.
• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1987.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (1988), p. 65, no.1.
• Bradley, Rizvana. "Martin Puryear: Refractions of the Historical Present." In Martin Puryear: Nexus, edited by Emily Liebert, 170-179 Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2025.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.